Karl Lenker, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (retired) A-10 Warthog fighter pilot and combat veteran (Bosnia), has logged over 29,000 hours in the air. Action is his middle name. Others write about on-the-edge adventures … Karl Lenker lives them.
Though recently retired from piloting Boeing jets around the world for Delta Air Lines, he now flies life-saving, EMS rescue missions, chases offshore race boats for TV, does television and movie shoots or explores central Florida swamps for alligator conservationists — all in helicopters. When he feels the need to back off a bit, he races his 930 Turbo Porsche, cruises A1A down the Florida coast on his Harley Davidson or flies his own airplane.
A gold medal champion rifle and pistol marksman, Karl has been an avid outdoorsman most of his life. He holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Maryland.
Writing credits include feature articles for the Jet Gazette and The Free State Guardian, military publications with statewide (Maryland) circulation.
Final Trumpet is his debut novel. It was born when he was asked to go to west Africa to instruct the park rangers in the art of hunting poachers from the air in ultra-light aircraft. The gruesome images he was shown during that recruiting session were disturbing and left Karl with a lasting impression and a strong desire to do something about it. Final Trumpet is part of that “something.” As a result, a portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to organizations committed to protecting elephants around the world.
Check out the footage of A-10s in action below. Some of the weapons deployed in this video are the same used by A-10s featured in Final Trumpet: